Method and apparatus to provide enhanced directory assistance information in a communication network

ABSTRACT

An operator receives a request for directory information about a listed party over a telephone connection. It is then determined if enhanced directory information for the listed party is available in an enhanced information database. The enhanced directory information associated with the listed party is retrieved, from the enhanced information database, as a script that incorporates the enhanced directory information. The enhanced directory information can then be provided using the script. The enhanced directory information can be stored, for example, on a Web server that is updated by the listed party and the information can be transferred using a Phone Markup Language script.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication networks. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatusthat provide enhanced directory assistance information in acommunication network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many communication network providers offer some type of directoryassistance service to people using the network. FIG. 1 is a blockdiagram including one such known directory assistance system. Generally,a person uses a telephone 100 to access a directory assistance platform200, such as one staffed by a directory assistance operator. Forexample, a person may call a directory assistance operator to find thetelephone number or address of a particular “listed party,” such as amerchant. The person tells the operator the name, city and perhaps thecounty of the listed party. With this information, the operator accessesa directory assistance database 250 and determines the listed party'stelephone number and address.

With some directory assistance services, such as AT&T's “00” INFO^(SM)service, additional information can be made available to callers. Forexample, the operator can search for and find the names and addresses ofcertain types of establishments, e.g., Mexican restaurants, in aparticular area. Such directory assistance services are useful, but onlya limited amount of additional information is practically available.Often, a person wants to know even more detailed information about aparticular listed party, such as business hours, items on a restaurant'smenu or whether there are any rooms available in a hotel. This“enhanced” level of information is not currently available to adirectory assistance operator.

Even if enhanced information were made available, it would not bepractical to have an operator read such information to a user, or tootherwise interact with the user by reviewing material and answeringdetailed questions about enhanced listed party information sinceoperator time is a very expensive resource for a communication networkprovider.

Moreover, unlike a listed party's address and telephone number, thistype of enhanced information will change frequently. A restaurant, forexample, might include daily specials that are being served. It is notpractical for the network service provider to buy or maintain such adatabase, perhaps including hundreds of thousands of listed parties,when the information changes this frequently.

As shown in FIG. 1, some Internet-based information directories cancontain information beyond the listed party's traditional name, addressand telephone number. These directories typically display a listedparty's World Wide Web page, or “Web” page, to a user. A Web page is aHypertext Markup Language (HTML) document 430 that can be sent to a userover the Internet 500 using a set of rules, called Hypertext TransferProtocol (HTTP), that allow the exchange of information including text,graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files. As usedherein, the term “script” refers to either an HTML document or a programthat generates an HTML document.

A Web page is generally accessed through an address called a UniformResource Locator (URL). For example, a particular listed party's Webpage associated with a URL may contain the listed party's hours, text oraudio advertising information, or pointers to other Web pages. The HTMLscripts 430 are maintained on a computer 400, known as a Web “server,”and can be designed to incorporate information in a database 440 thatcan be directly updated by the listed party as often as required. TheseInternet-based directories, however, can only be used by people with acomputer connected to the Internet 500. Many people do not have accessto the Internet 500, are not near a computer when looking for this typeof information, or find it otherwise inconvenient to retrieveinformation this way.

A network service provider's users would find it very helpful ifenhanced information was available through a telephone based directoryassistance system. Additionally, the network service provider couldgenerate revenue by charging listed parties a fee to be included in theenhanced information database. Finally, a listed party would be happy tobe able to provide customers with detailed information that can beeasily accessed.

In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a substantial needexists for a method and apparatus that makes enhanced directoryassistance information available over a telephone, and solves the otherproblems discussed above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disadvantages of the art are alleviated to a great extent by amethod and apparatus that provide enhanced directory assistanceinformation. In one embodiment of the present invention, an operatorreceives a request for directory information about a listed party over atelephone connection. It is then determined if enhanced directoryinformation for the listed party is available in an enhanced informationdatabase. The enhanced directory information associated with the listedparty is retrieved, from the enhanced information database, as a scriptthat incorporates the enhanced directory information. The enhanceddirectory information can then be provided using the script. Theenhanced directory information can be stored, for example, on a Webserver that is updated by the listed party and the information can betransferred using a Phone Markup Language script. According to oneembodiment of the present invention, listed parties may update their ownlistings, and these updates will be immediately available to callers.

With these and other advantages and features of the invention that willbecome hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be moreclearly understood by reference to the following detailed description ofthe invention, the appended claims and to the several drawings attachedherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of known directory assistance and Webinformation systems.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an enhanced directory assistance systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of the enhanced directoryassistance platform shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block flow diagram of a process that provides enhanceddirectory assistance according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus that provideenhanced directory assistance information. Referring now in detail tothe drawings wherein like parts are designated by like referencenumerals throughout, there is illustrated in FIG. 2 an enhanceddirectory assistance system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As described above, the server 400 contains an HTML script430 capable of displaying a listed party's Web page to a user over theInternet 500. This HTML script 430 can incorporate information stored inan enhanced information database 440. For example, the HTML 430 scriptmay include a reference to an audio file called “daily_special.” Theactual “daily_special” audio file can be stored in the enhancedinformation database 440. In this way, the listed party can simplyupdate the enhanced information database 440 and the HTML script 430,without being modified, will automatically use the updated information.Although a “daily_special” audio file is used as an example toillustrate an embodiment of the present invention, any other type ofenhanced directory information may be provided instead. The enhancedinformation database 440 can be located at the server 400 or, ifdesired, at some other location.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the scriptinformation 410 in the server 400 also includes information that may beaccessed over a telephone connection, such as a Phone Markup Language(PML) script 420. A PML script may be advantageously implemented usingthe technology described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/635,801filed Apr. 22,1996, entitled “Method and Apparatus for InformationRetrieval Using Audio Interface,” which is incorporated herein byreference. As used herein, the phrase “telephone connection” refers toany connection established over a voice communication channel,including, for example, connections established using a Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a wireless network or an Internet Protocol(IP) telephony system. PML is an extension of HTML that has specialmarks for the telephone interface. For example, the PML script 420 mayindicate that text should be converted by a text-to-speech synthesizerand read over the telephone. The PML script 420 can also interact with auser, by, for example, allowing selections with a touch tone telephone.Just as with an HTML script, a PML script is transferred using HTTP.Moreover, the PML script 420 can also incorporate information from thesame enhanced information database 440 that is used by the HTML script430.

To access the information in the enhanced information database 440, aperson uses a telephone 100 to place a call to a directory assistanceplatform 210. The directory assistance platform 210 could include a livedirectory assistance operator, or could be a completely automatedInteractive Voice Response (IVR) system. An operator at the directoryassistance platform would, for example, use a directory assistancedatabase 260 to find the telephone number or address of a particularlisted party based on a name provided by the user. According to anembodiment of the present invention, the directory assistance database260 can also contain the URL of the listed party. The telephone numberof the listed party can also be “translated,” or used to look the URL ofthe listed party, if desired.

In addition to the listed party's name, address and telephone number,the directory assistance database 260 can include an indication ofwhether enhanced information is available for that party. Another methodof determining whether enhanced information is available would be toquery a special database (not shown in FIG. 2) maintained either at thedirectory assistance platform 260 or at some other location. If enhanceddirectory information is not available, the operator can simply providethe telephone number and address of the listed party as is normallydone.

If enhanced directory assistance information is available, the operatortransfers the telephone call to an enhanced directory assistanceplatform 300. At this point, the operator may no longer be involved withthe telephone call and the signal does not need to stay routed throughthe directory assistance platform 210. Note that even after thetelephone call is transferred, the connection may still be physicallyrouted through the directory assistance platform 210, if desired. Inaddition to transferring the call, the directory assistance platform 210provides the identity of the listed party to the enhanced directoryassistance platform 300. For example, the directory assistance platform210 could provide a telephone number or URL associated with the listedparty to the enhanced directory assistance platform 300.

Based on the information provided by the directory assistance platform210, the enhanced directory assistance platform 300 retrieves the PMLscript 420 associated with the listed party using HTTP. As explainedabove, the PML script 420 can incorporate information in an enhancedinformation database 440, which can be directly updated by the listedparty. Thus, listed parties can update their enhanced directory listingsand these updates will be immediately available to callers. The enhanceddirectory assistance platform 300 includes a processor that converts thePML script 420 into audio information that is provided to the user overthe telephone 100. The user can also interact with the PML script 420using, for example, touch tone signals or voice commands with an IVRsystem.

Thus, a directory assistance operator interacts with the customer tofind the needed database listing associated with a listed party. If thelisted party has an enhanced listing, and the customer wants theadditional information, the operator switches the caller to the IVRsystem to access the enhanced information. This limits the time that theoperator spends with the caller to the time it takes to find therequested listing, and the user navigates through the extended set ofinformation without operator assistance. Because the enhancedinformation can contain audio files, the service could become animportant information source for the user, as well as a completely newadvertising medium for listed parties. Note that with a specialdirectory assistance system, such as AT&T's “00” INFO^(SM) service,multiple listings might satisfy the caller's query. In this case, eitherthe existing PML scripts for each listing can be played sequentially ora special PML document can be constructed with information about eachlisted party. Such a multiple listing may be presented to the callerusing a generated program. For instance, to hear information about twoMexican restaurants, the PML program may dynamically create a PML pagethat is interpreted by the directory assistance platform 300 to play thefollowing audible message: “press‘1’ to hear information about a firstrestaurant or press‘2’ to hear information about a second restaurant.”

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of the enhanced directoryassistance platform shown in FIG. 2. As described above, the useraccesses a directory assistance platform 210 using a telephone 100. Whenthe identity of the listed party has been determined, the telephone callis transferred to the enhanced directory assistance platform 300through, for example, a communications port 306. The directoryassistance platform 210 can also transfer the identity of the listedparty through a different communications port 302, or through the samecommunications port 306, if desired.

The enhanced directory assistance platform 300 can be, for example, anIVR system that communicates with a Web server 400 through anothercommunications port 304. The enhanced directory assistance platform 300requests a PML script 420, incorporating information stored in anenhanced information database 440, from the server 400. Although only asingle server 400 is shown in FIG. 3, any number of servers can be usedto support the enhanced directory assistance system.

The enhanced directory assistance platform 300 includes a PML player320. The PML player 320 converts the PML script 420 into audioinformation that is provided to the user over the telephone 100. Aplatform controller 310 directs the PML player 320 to retrieve and theninterpret, or play, the PML script 420 associated with the listed partybased on information received from the directory assistance platform210. Moreover, each directory assistance platform 300 may handle manyindependent calls. The platform controller 310 may handle the incomingtelephone calls and make sure that the correct PML script is used on thecorrect port, line or telephone call. Thus, the enhanced directoryassistance platform reformats information into audio form and transmitsthe information to the caller over the telephone connection.

The enhanced directory assistance platform 300 may also receiveinformation from the user, such as a credit card or telephone number,and to forward that information to the listed party. Receivinginformation from a caller may also be specified in the PML page. Forexample, if the listed party wants to receive credit card information,the PML page may be programmed to ask for a credit card number and waitfor touch tone signals. The PML player 320 would perform this function,such as by converting touch tone signals into a numerical value. Thedirectory assistance platform 300 would get such a request from the PMLpage, and execute the request. The server 400 may also control otherscripts that, for example, allow updating of the data in the enhancedinformation database 440, such as changes to existing listing or newlistings. Such updates may be made over the Internet or through atelephone connection.

Instead of using pre-stored PML scripts 420, another embodiment of thepresent invention dynamically composes PML scripts based on informationstored on the Web server 400. In this case, the server 400 wouldreformat the information as appropriate. Thus, the server 400 maydynamically composes the PML pages and the directory assistance platform300 may receive the dynamically composed pages in the usual fashion. Inanother embodiment, a single script contains both HTML and PML elements.The single script may then be used for both PML and traditional Internetaccess.

A PML or HTML page may typically be generated dynamically. That is, thepage may be constructed real-time, using the information in the enhancedinformation database 440 at that moment, as the result of a query. Ifdesired, it would also be possible to periodically generate static pagesbased on information in the enhanced information database 440, but thismay not be practical when there a large number of listed parties.

FIG. 4 is a block flow diagram of a process that provides enhanceddirectory assistance according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. After beginning at step 600, a request is received at step610 over a telephone connection for directory information about a listedparty. The directory information for the listed party, including anindication of whether enhanced information is available, is retrieved atstep 620. If enhanced directory information is not available at step630, normal directory assistance information is provided at step 640.

If enhanced directory information is available as indicated at step 630,the enhanced information is retrieved at step 650. The enhanceddirectory information is provided over the telephone connection at step660 and the process ends at step 670.

Another embodiment of the present invention enhances the ability ofspecial directory assistance, allowing a caller to make moresophisticated inquiries. This, however, may require that an operatorremain on the line throughout the process. In this case, the operatorwould be the link between the caller and the enhanced information. Thatis, the operator, and not a computer based application program, providesthe caller with detailed information.

It should be noted that one a caller is using the enhanced directoryinformation system, the caller may chose to have the listed party'stelephone number be automatically dialed. The enhanced directoryinformation system may also let the caller select to return to a livedirectory assistance operator at any time, if desired.

Although various embodiments are specifically illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of thepresent invention are covered by the above teachings and are within thepurview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit andintended scope of the invention. For example, although certain types of“enhanced” information have been used to illustrate the presentinvention, it can be appreciated that other types of information willalso fall within the scope of the invention. Moreover, the presentinvention is not dependent on the particular formats, such as PML andHTTP, that have been used to describe the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing enhanced directoryassistance, comprising the steps of: receiving a request for directoryinformation about a listed party; determining if enhanced directoryinformation for the listed party is available in an enhanced informationdatabase; retrieving the enhanced directory information associated withthe listed party, from the enhanced information database, as a scriptthat incorporates the enhanced directory information; and providing theenhanced directory information using the script.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein said steps of receiving and providing are performed through atelephone connection.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step ofreceiving comprises receiving a telephone call signal at a firstplatform and said step of providing comprises routing the telephone callsignal to a second platform.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said stepof retrieving comprises: retrieving the enhanced directory informationassociated with the listed party as an interactive voice responsescript.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of retrievingcomprises: retrieving the enhanced directory information associated withthe listed party as a phone markup language script using hypertexttransfer protocol.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the phone markuplanguage script incorporates information stored in the enhancedinformation database.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the informationstored in the enhanced information database is also incorporated by ahypertext markup language script to be transferred over the Internet. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining comprisesretrieving directory information, including an enhanced informationindicator, from a directory database and determining whether enhanceddirectory information is available based on the enhanced informationindicator.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing theenhanced directory information is performed by dynamically constructinga phone markup language document based on information stored in a Webserver database.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesteddirectory information relates to a plurality of listing parties and saidsteps of determining and providing are performed for each of theplurality of listing parties.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein saidstep of providing the enhanced directory information is performed usingan interactive voice response system.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinsaid step of receiving is performed by a live directory assistancetelephone operator.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said step ofreceiving is performed by an automated directory assistance system. 14.The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: interacting witha user to provide additional information about the listed party throughan interactive voice response system.
 15. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: receiving information about a user; andproviding the information about the user to the listed party.
 16. Amethod of providing enhanced directory assistance, comprising the stepsof: receiving a request for enhanced directory information, the requestincluding an identifier associated with a listed party; retrieving aphone markup language script associated with the listed party, the phonemarkup language script incorporating the enhanced directory informationfrom an enhanced information database which is also referenced by ahypertext markup language script to be transferred over the Internet;converting the phone markup language script into an audio format; andproviding to a user the audio format enhanced directory information. 17.The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of: interacting withthe user to provide additional information about the listed partythrough an interactive voice response system.
 18. An enhanced directoryassistance information platform, comprising: a first communications portconfigured to receive a request for enhanced directory information, therequest including an identifier associated with a listed party; aprocessor coupled to said first communications port configured toretrieve a phone markup language script associated with the listedparty, the phone markup language script incorporating the enhanceddirectory information from an enhanced information database which isalso referenced by a hypertext markup language script to be transferredover the Internet, said processor being further configured to convertthe phone markup language script into an audio format; and a secondcommunications port coupled to said processor and configured to provideto a user the audio format enhanced directory information.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein said processor is further configured tointeract with the user to provide additional information about thelisted party through an interactive voice response system.
 20. Anapparatus to provide enhanced directory assistance comprising: means forreceiving a request for directory information about a listed party;means for determining if enhanced directory information for the listedparty is available in an enhanced information database; means forretrieving the enhanced directory information associated with the listedparty, from the enhanced information database, as a script thatincorporates the enhanced directory information; and means for providingthe enhanced directory information if the enhanced directory informationis available.
 21. An apparatus to provide enhanced directory assistance,comprising: means for receiving a request for enhanced directoryinformation, the request including an identifier associated with alisted party; means for retrieving a phone markup language scriptassociated with the listed party, the phone markup language scriptincorporating the enhanced directory information from an enhancedinformation database which is also referenced by a hypertext markuplanguage script to be transferred over the Internet; means forconverting the phone markup language script into an audio format; andmeans for providing to a user the audio format enhanced directoryinformation.
 22. A method of providing access to a directory database,comprising the steps of: receiving, over a telephone connection, arequest for directory information about a listed party; retrievingdirectory information associated with the listed party, the listed partybeing able to directly update the directory information such thatupdated information is available to a caller at substantially the timethat the information is updated; and providing the directory informationover the telephone connection.
 23. A method of providing a directorydatabase, comprising the steps of: receiving from a listed party updatesto directory information associated with the listed party; andautomatically making the updated directory information available to aparty seeking directory information over a telephone connection.
 24. Themethod of claim 23, wherein said step of receiving is performed byreceiving updates over a telephone connection.
 25. The method of claim23, wherein said step of receiving is performed by receiving updatesover the Internet.